KRAAL'S STAR CRUISER
Classification: Interstellar Spaceship
Creator: Unrevealed
User/Possessors: Commander Gormagga Kraal
Passengers: Altarra, Beepie, robot crew, Dr. Sha-Han, Ben Tucker (Solarman)
First Appearance: Solarman#1 (January, 1989)
Powers/Abilities/Functions: Kraal's giant Star Cruiser was armed with the deadly Solar Ray that could destroy suns; the Solar Ray also drained the dying sun's energy into the ship's power pods, of which there were scores. The Star Cruiser was also armed with several red lasers called Kraal's lasers. The main control room had a huge cinema-sized display screen.
The spacecraft was powered by four huge engines mounted aft (the ship must also have had warp capabilities in order to traverse vast interstellar distances). Travel within the immense ship was achieved using small and large circular hovering platforms. The spaceship had protective shielding against the effects of solar destruction and vibrated to the power of a "trillion megatons" of energy. The Star Cruiser also held several types of spacecraft, including at least one Escape Jet, a Pursuit Ship and the Solo-Cruiser. They all had the same purplish-gray metallic finish to them. The Star Cruiser was controlled by a crew of various types of androids that fulfilled different functions, including pilot/control droids, guards, killer robots, and cylindrical tentacled robots for pursuit and capture tasks. All these androids were under the command of Kraal.
History: (Solarman#1) - Approaching another suitable sun, Commander Gormagga Kraal commanded that the Sun Ray be activated. This weapon effectively destroyed each sun it was used against, and then drained power from the dying sun into power pods located inside the large Star Cruiser. Still in the control room, Kraal then commanded Sha-Han to collect the Circlet of Power. He left the main control room, accompanied by Altarra, on a hover platform. Sha-Han instead took the Circlet and fled the Star Cruiser in an Escape Jet. Kraal severely damaged the Jet with lasers, and the Escape Jet crashed on Earth near Ben Tucker's residence, falling to the seabed.
Back onboard the Star Cruiser, Kraal is told of the Circlet's theft by a Guard Robot, which stood on a small hover platform; Kraal destroyed the robot. Kraal then dispatched two nearby killer robots to find the wreckage of the Escape Jet and collect the Circlet. The robots departed in a Pursuit Ship, following Sha-Han's trail to Earth. Meanwhile, the Escape Jet crashed into the sea, but Sha-Han managed to get out and passed the Circlet to Ben Tucker. The Pursuit Ship then knifed into the sea, the two killer robots having utilized the magno-ray to find the Escape Jet. Not finding the Circlet, Kraal commanded the two robots to find them or "suffer total termination!" The two robots, dressed in black suits, sought to apprehend Ben Tucker, who drove away on his motor scooter; they pursued by flying into the air and blasted the scooter. However, Ben Tucker ran down an alleyway, before activating the Circlet to become Solarman. Solarman then smashed the killer robots into small pieces. Distracted, Solarman transformed back again to Ben Tucker, but the two robots reassembled themselves, and captured the youth, taking him into a nearby shed, which was only camouflage that masked their Pursuit Ship. They returned to the Star Cruiser via the Entry Portal. However, Ben Tucker escaped with aid of Altarra after meeting Kraal and activated the Circlet, becoming Solarman again and defeated the tentacle robots sent after him. Kraal flew off after him on a hover platform that held his command chair, using this as battering ram against Solarman to stop him from halting the Solar Ray being fired upon the Earth's sun. After a short battle, Solarman flew outside a hull rupture caused by Kraal, and redirected the deadly beam away from the sun to the Star Cruiser, causing its complete destruction, presumably with all of Kraal's robots onboard. Kraal narrowly escaped with his life aboard the Solo-Cruiser.Comments: Created by Stan Lee (script), Jim Mooney (penciler) & Dennis Janke (inker); original Solarman created by David Oliphant.
The ship's power pods already contained the power of at least 14 suns (ASSuming that each pod held the power of one sun). A "trillion megatons" of energy being released all at once should've generated a phenomenal explosion, unless the pods didn't break. Sha-Han was brought down by "Kraal's lasers", which might be a particular type of laser/laser armament designed by Kraal. Boyd Kirkland, who did layouts for Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends, Spider-Man & Hulk, also drew storyboards for the Solarman animated pilot. On 13 June 2004, he stated that "If I remember correctly, Stan Lee wrote it for another client who funded it (I can't remember who). The intention was to create a new series/toy franchise independent of the Marvel Universe. It never took off." Interestingly, the only adverts in Solarman#1 (apart from the inside covers) was that for the Solarman Collectors Club (p31) and the Subscription page on the other side, leaving 30 pages for continuous comic panels. This profile was originally meant as a sub-profile for Kraal, but kept expanding - talk about marketing opportunities! The profiles below are divided into the spacecrafts and robots onboard the Star Cruiser.Clarifications:
The Star Cruiser has no known connection to
"Hover Platform"
There were several different hover platforms of different sizes (but all of them round) used to traverse the distances inside the immense Star Cruiser. They hovered around 3' off the ground when in use, and rested on the ground when not in use. They had handles to hold on to when in motion to counter inertia. Their speed was not indicated, but they must have been faster than walking. Alterra and Sha-Han utilized one that was about 9' in diameter to go from the Control Room to collect the Circlet of Power. Later, a guard robot used a single-person hover platform, about 3' in diameter, to tell Kraal the Circlet was gone. Kraal used the largest one seen, about 11' in diameter, to pursue Solarman and had a control chair mounted on it. Kraal used this as a battering ram against Solarman to prevent the solar hero from stopping the Solar Ray from firing. They were presumably all destroyed when the Star Cruiser exploded. --Solarman#1
Escape Jet
Pursuit Ship
Also called a Scout Ship and Pursuit Craft, the Pursuit Ship was used by the two killer robots to chase Sha-Han. It was a two-seater spacecraft that had some level of storage to hold Ben Tucker prisoner. It could function underwater and featured a magno-ray for tracking ships plus retractable long arms for salvaging; it probably took the wreckage of the Sha-Han's Escape Jet onboard. It was later hidden in a shed, which launched into the air with Pursuit Ship, with the camouflage disintegrating upon leaving the Earth's atmosphere. The Pursuit Ship then returned to the Star Cruiser with its captive cargo. It launched from a hangar located on one side of the Star Cruiser. Given the lack of response by the local authorities, it seemed to have stealth capabilities and quiet but very fast engines. --Solarman#1
Solo-Cruiser
Kraal escaped the destruction of the Star Cruiser in the Solo-Cruiser. It appeared to only have room for one pilot and was last seen blasting near the Earth's moon. --Solarman#1
"Pilot Robots"
They appeared to have no other function than to "sit" at their control desks, monitoring the Star Cruiser and regional suns, and alerting Kraal of anything relevant. They had similar appearances to the guard robot that had its head melted by Kraal. --Solarman#1
"Killer Robots"
The killer robots had a modular design that permitted them to be broken apart and reassembled; they could rebuild themselves in under a minute (approximately). They were humanoid, could pilot the Pursuit Craft, fly and fired destructive blasts from their hands. They were gleaming chrome in color with gold heads and sunglass-style "eyes", and stood about 6' tall. They also disguised themselves in black suits while engaged in pursuit on Earth. There were at least two onboard the Star Cruiser at the time of its destruction and they were presumably destroyed in its blast. Kraal also called them guards, but they should be differentiated from the type "punished" by Kraal (see pilot robots). --Solarman#1
"Tentacle Robots"
Four "tentacle robots" attacked Ben Tucker and Altarra. They were drum-like creations, appearing like garbage cans with similar dimensions, but with red "lids" and rockets at their base, plus four tentacles that ended in hooks attached to their sides; each tentacle was about 7' long. They could also hover using the 3 rockets mounted in their base, and seemed to coordinate attack as a group. While they were capable of capturing Ben Tucker, they were no match for Solarman's might. --Solarman#1 (Solarman#2 (fb)images:
Solarman#1, p1 (Star Cruiser - back view)
Appearances:
Solarman#1 (January, 1989) - Stan Lee (writer), Jim Mooney (pencils), Dennis Janke (inks), Bob Budiansky (editor)
Solarman#2 (May, 1990) - Stan Lee (writer), Mike Zeck (pencils), Nestor Redondo (inks), Bob Budiansky (editor)
Last updated: 09/24/05
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